Heart to Heart
by nannygirl
Summary: The conversation Red and Kitty shared in the ambulance on the way to the hospital during Red's heart attack. A missing moment from "Celebration Day."


_**Disclaimer:**_ _I own nothing. I do not own That '70s Show or any of it's characters. I do not own the episode that this story was based off of. I own nothing._

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well! Today I have for you a little oneshot I started a long while back and kept meaning to post. Thought it would be a nice time to post during Heart Health Month—or at least the last day of that month lol. This story is a missing moment in the show because I really hated the way the show just skipped over all this to focus more on the humor and stuff. They missed some great opportunities with the storyline of Red's heart attack, but that just means I get to have fun with them :) I'm also considering adding a little more to this fic but I'll talk about that later. For now, thank you for stopping by to read, I hope that you enjoy it, please do review if you can, I'd really love to hear your thoughts! Even just a few words really goes a long way. There's a tissue warning but its very slight, I think you'll be okay :D A special shout out and thanks to alexanderkj for giving me a little push to finish and post this, thank you!_ _This takes place after Celebration Day. Thanks again for reading, hope you like, please review if you can, and as always, please, Enjoy!_

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 **Heart to Heart**

Continuing to lay back on the stretcher, Red stared up at interior roof of the ambulance. He could feel himself getting more tired, weaker even, as the pain in his chest intensified making him feel more and more uneasy. Red tried to find something to concentrate on, to take his mind off everything he was feeling, and luckily, he found something when the sight of his wife hoovered over him.

At first, she barley acknowledged him. She was in the zone, in full nurse mode now. Spewing out medical terms, asking questions and even correcting the paramedics once or twice which made Red chuckle lightly.

The sound of his laughter surprised Kitty and instantly had her looking down at him.

He tried to give her a smile, the oxygen mask blocking most of it, "Hey."

"Hi," Kitty replied, her voice much more soft and vulnerable than it had been when she was in Nurse Mode.

She wasn't a nurse right now, she was a wife—a wife whose husband was having a heart attack. Kitty tightly grasped Red's left hand in both of hers.

"Always knew it would take a lot to get us some time away from those dumbasses," Red's words were slightly muffled by his breathing device. "Never thought it'd take me being hauled off in an ambulance."

Light laughter was exchanged by the pair, Kitty's laugh being just a little louder than the laugh coming from her husband. She continued to try to remind herself that this was good; Red was still making jokes, he would be okay, it was a good sign.

Meanwhile, Red closed his eyes as he listened to the sounds of his wife's gentle giggle. He'd always loved her laugh. The way it was so unique to her, the way you could easily tell when it was forced, and how genuinely happy it was when it was real. Red wished he'd been able to make her laugh those genuine laughs just a little more.

Red opened his eyes and with his free hand pulled the mask down and away from his face—he didn't want these words being muffled out.

"I love you, Kitty" he stared straight into her blue eyes and gave her left hand a squeeze.

Kitty smiled but her eyes were brimming with tears. Her right released his hand only to move up to smooth back his thinning hair against the slightly sweaty surface of his head. "Oh, I love you too, Red Forman."

"Kitty, you know where all the important papers are right?"

"Red, honey, you need to keep that mask on. It'll help you with your breathing," Kitty explained, carefully pulling the oxygen mask back to rest over his nose and mouth; she was of course taking a moment to deflect from the question he'd asked her. "And we don't need to talk about any of that right now, okay?"

"Yes, we do, Kitty," he argued tugging the bothersome piece of plastic off his face. "Just in case. Now everything you'll need you'll find up in…"

"The mask, Red, the mask," Kitty chided him and then pulled the mask back into place. Red set her a sharp look but she didn't care, she continued to make sure the mask stayed where it was at as she kept holding onto his hand. "And there's not going to be any 'just in case.' Everything's going to be fine."

There was a moment of silence, the only sound being the shrieking siren outside, as the married couple stared into each other's eyes; seeing in the others the love they felt for each other, the millions of memories they'd made, the life they'd built together.

Finally Red spoke again, this time not bothering with the oxygen mask, "I'm scared, Kitty."

Kitty almost couldn't believe her ears. She couldn't recall one time in all her years being with Red, him ever saying these words. She knew there were times when he felt a little scared and a few times he'd written it in letters to her while he was in Korea. But he'd never said it, he was always the strong one. Instead of fretting over it too much, Kitty realized that now it was her turn to be the strong one in their relationship. She hadn't been very strong these past few months but none of that mattered now.

She gave him a warm smile, leaning closer to him, one hand still holding his, the other still stroking his damp brow.

"You're gonna be okay, Red. I know you are. You're my big strong man," Kitty said, meaning each and every word. Her smile grew wider as she went on, "And you said this was Our Time, remember? How can it be Our Time if you're not here to enjoy it too?"

When she saw his eyes slip close, Kitty leaned her head down to place a tender kiss on his forehead. She allowed her lips to linger until she felt her left hand being faintly clutched and she pulled herself back up to see Red.

"I love you, Kitty," he repeated, this time not having the energy to mess with the mask.

This time, instead of feeling the little flutter in her heart that was usually felt when Kitty heard her husband say these words she felt a sharp tug at it. She had once heard him explain that there were only three times a man was supposed to say 'I love you.' Of course, in all their years together Red had said 'I love you' to Kitty plenty of times outside of the three; when she'd done something to make him extra happy, on special moments and holidays, in moments of passion, or quiet moments when it was only the two of them.

The Three Times a Man was supposed to Say I Love You, were the three main times and were also some of the other times Red told Kitty that he loved her. They were the following: when he's drunk, when he's in big trouble and it's the only way out, and when he's dying. That's why Red kept saying he loved her, he thought he was dying.

"Red Forman, you are not dying," she said, suddenly very firmly. "You are not dying on me. I won't let you. You can't just die and leave me to take care of all those kids back at our house, they're dumbasses!"

He chuckled faintly under the mask. "Never thought I'd see the day you agreed with me on that."

"Well, they're good kids, Red. They really are, but sometimes they can be just a bunch of…well, dumbasses!"

Hearing his wife call those kids dumbasses was actually making this whole heart attack thing worth it. Kitty saying that she really thought they were a bunch of dumbasses made Red love her even more and he decided to tell her so. "I love you, Kitty."

Kitty's eyes stung at the words. The more her husband said this statement the weaker and more tired his voice seemed to get. She let her right hand join her left in holding Red's big palm and raising it to rest against her heart.

"Honey, you know how I feel about you, _how much I care about you_ ," she struggled to maintain her voice from trembling. "But I am not going to say it back," his brow furrowed and she went on. "I'm not going to say it back until you are in a hospital room resting and recovering from all of this. Because you are going to be fine, Red Forman. _Just_ _fine_."

Red felt the tight squeeze of her hands, he heard the crack of her voice; she was saying this not just to him but saying it as a reminder to herself too.

"Okay," he tried to assure her he understood by returning the squeeze. "Okay."

She watched his eyes shut again however, she didn't panic, she knew he must be tired. The ambulance came to a halt and Kitty realized they had reached the hospital.

Soon the vehicle's doors would be pulled open and the paramedics would move Red's stretcher out and roll him into the building, she'd be able to stay with him a little longer until they reached the point that no family members were allowed; not even wives who worked as a nurse in the hospital. Then Kitty would be left sitting in the drafty waiting room, anxiously waiting for any kind of update on her husband.

Kitty felt her stomach churn with worry. What if she was wrong? What if Red didn't turn out okay? What if she never got to tell him that she loved him again? She couldn't bear even the thought of that.

After stealing a glance at Red and seeing that his eyes remained closed, Kitty moved their hands so that his rough knuckles were pressed against her soft lips.

"I love you," she whispered so softly the words were nearly inaudible.

But they were heard by her husband and he told her this by squeezing her hand once more, "I love you too, Kitty."

 **The End**

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 _ **Author's Note:**_ _So what did you think? Yay? Nay? A little bit of both? Be sure to let me know in a review!_

 _Hope you all enjoyed the story. Thanks very much for reading it! It means so much! And just a little FYI for those who might not remember, the whole Three Time's A Man Says I Love You is actually from episode 'Kelso's Career' from Season 4._

 _As I mentioned before I am thinking about adding a second piece to this story, with Red recovering in the hospital room. I'm marking it as complete for now but if you all would like to read more let me know and I'll try my hand at writing that scene—I really wished we'd gotten to see in the show._

 _Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, stay tuned, take care, and have a nice day!_


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